Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (667 page)

See
PLANO–CONVEX KNIFE
.

 
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An object recovered during an excavation which because of its nature or position is individually recorded. The range of materials treated in this way will vary according to the nature of the deposits being examined and the range and quantity of material being recovered. On some excavations all finds are treated as small finds while on others it may be that, for example, pottery, bone, and building materials are treated as bulk finds and recorded only in their context of origin while coins, metal objects, and finely worked objects in other materials are treated as small finds.

 
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The process of extracting usable metal from an ore by heating to extreme temperatures in a hearth or furnace. Some metals may melt while being smelted and these can be run off or trapped in crucibles as ingots. But melting metals was not necessarily the aim; the main chemical reaction in smelting is that of reducing a metal oxide in the form of a bloom which can then be further worked by forging to drive off the remaining impurities. Archaeological remains of the smelting process include hearths and furnaces containing slag, tuyères, cinder, slag, and possibly ingot fragments.

 
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Smith , Charles Roach
(1807–90)
[Bi].

British antiquary and recognized expert on the early history of London. Born and brought up on the Isle of Wight, Smith attended a number of local schools before being placed in the office of a solicitor at Newport. Soon tiring of this work, he became an apprentice to a chemist in Chichester, but after six years moving to the firm of Wilson Ashmore and Co. at Snow Hill in London. Later he set up on his own account at the corner of Founder's Court, Lothbury. From an early age he was interested in collecting Roman and prehistoric antiquities, and while living in London he spent 20 years watching and collecting from building sites and the dredging of the Thames. By the mid 1850s his collection was very sizable and recognized as being of great importance. After some negotiation he sold it to the British Museum for £ 2000; here it formed the basis of the British Museum's national collection of Romano-British antiquities. Smith belonged to many learned societies and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 22 December 1836. He contributed many articles and papers to journals and magazines, and in conjunction with Thomas Wright founded the British Archaeological Association in 1843. In 1856 he published the records of Anglo-Saxon burials excavated in Kent by Bryan Faussett between 1757 and 1773 under the title
Inventorium sepulchrale
.
[Obit.:
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London
, 13 (1889–91), 310–12]

 
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Term applied to collections of Bronze Age metalwork found in northern Europe that appear to represent the tools and stock-in-trade of a metalworker. Thus they typically contain broken tools and weapons cut up for recycling, ingots, moulds, and tools for working metal. It is speculated that these hoards were deposited or concealed by itinerant smiths for safety, but for whatever reason they were never able to recover them. Also known as
founder's hoards
.

 
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Type of windmill, of wooden construction, usually tapered and circular with a revolving cap for turning the sails into the wind.

 
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